


Night after Night

by christinchen



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Firefly Setting, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-07
Updated: 2019-11-07
Packaged: 2021-01-24 21:43:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21345166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/christinchen/pseuds/christinchen
Summary: originally written for the prompt: While pillaging a starship for goods Pirate Captain Jack Harkness rescues a handsome slave, trained to serve a master in all sorts of ways. Jack doesn't keep slaves, but to Ianto he's a big damn hero who needs caring for.Not finished and probably never will be
Relationships: Jack Harkness/Ianto Jones
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	Night after Night

Jack shouldered yet another door open, stepping into the large storage hangar, ripping open box after box. He gestured for his team to take those of value to their own ship.

"Tosh!" he yelled for the young woman over his shoulder. "Get the rest of that down to our ship, then start the engines up. I want to be out of here as soon as I'm back."

After hearing an affirmative 'Sir!' Jack watched the last of his team scramble off before heading for the last door still locked of the corridor.

Another Alliance ship and they'd have enough money to pay for the more than overdue repairs their ship needed and food for a month or two.

'A pirate's life...' he thought with a smirk when he kicked the door in.

Carefully Jack took a look around. He had expected a bit more than a few empty prison cells, seeing as there had been two now unconscious guards behind the door. But then again the Alliance had a knack for killing all their prisoners when attacked.

Jack was just about to turn around and leave when a movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He raised his gun cautiously and flicked the switch from 'stun' to 'kill'.

He rounded the stack of boxes he had seen the figure disappear behind in the half-darkness of the room. His gun was loaded with a click and the figure huddled into the corner whimpered softly.

Jack heard a rattling sound when it tried to curl further into himself, it took him a moment to identify it as the sound of chains.

Holstering his gun Jack crouched down carefully, the man in front of him eyed him warily where he had lifted his head just enough to see.

Jack reached out for him slowly, carefully holding a hand out for the stranger to take. He was met with wide blue eyes and a curious gaze, then two dirty hands wrapped around his fingers.  
Carefully, as if not sure what to do with what was offered.

"Can you understand me?" Jack asked, giving the hands resting in his a squeeze.

The man nodded, his fingers squeezing Jack's in the same way he had done.

Jack inched closer, his other hand coming to rest on the prisoner's shoulder. Suddenly a sickened expression appeared on his face, his breathing got louder and faster, he was trying to pull away from Jack, pressing himself further into the wall behind him.

"Shh..." Jack whispered, his hand still on the other man's shoulder, not letting go. He gently rubbed the skin in hopes of calming him. "It's okay. My name is Captain Jack Harkness, I'm here to help. I'm going to take you with me."

The man looked at him with a puzzled expression for a moment, as if trying to make sense of the statement, then he nodded slowly.

~.~

"What's your name?" Jack asked when he lead the man into his quarters. He started to set out a bowl of clean water, a towel and a set of his spare clothes for him to dress in after he was cleaned up.

"Ianto." his voice was rough from disuse.

"Okay then, Ianto. I'll leave you to it." Jack gestured to the items he had set out and headed for the door, silently closing it behind him. But not before catching a glimpse of Ianto stripping off the ragged, dirty clothes he had been wearing.

"What's with him, boss?" Owen asked from where he was leaning casually against the door to his quarters, his voice carried across the hallway. "I thought we didn't take prisoners?"

"We don't." Jack answered curtly. "We're giving him a lift to the next Alliance free planet and then he'll be off on his own."

With that Jack turned and left Owen standing where he was. Ignoring him when he called after him, pointing out that they knew literally nothing about the stranger he had taken on board, Jack headed for the kitchens, fetching plates with food for Ianto and him.

~.~

Jack knocked softly before nudging the door to his quarters open with a foot.

"Are you finished?" he asked while setting the plates down on the small table.

"Yes." came to soft reply from behind him.

"Are you hungry?" he asked, after finishing setting the food out.  
"I brought..." Jack stopped suddenly, when he caught sight of Ianto. The other man was kneeling on his bed, his naked skin cleaned from the dirt and grime of the prison cell, his eyes lowered submissively.

"Um... I set clothes out for you." Jack nodded his head in the direction of the pile of cloth sitting still neatly folded to Ianto's right.

"I wasn't sure," his glance was still fixed on the bed sheets underneath him as Ianto spoke, the words carefully chosen, his voice soft almost inaudible. "if I was a prisoner or not. You left the chains off and lead me to your quarters. So I assumed..." he trailed off, his voice shaky on the last words.

Jack watched numb as Ianto stood from his bed, picking up item after item of clothing, putting it on with trembling hands.

"You're not a prisoner." Jack finally blurted out.

Ianto stopped. The trousers he had been about to step into hanging loosely in his hands, he turned slowly to face Jack, a look of confusion on his face.

"You're a companion, right?" Ianto gave a small nod. The Alliance didn't keep companions in their prison cells. Surely enough most captains kept them in their quarters, but in the cells they would be wasted on the guards. He must have been arrested - for something so bad that they had left him behind to die at enemy hands.

"Why were you in that cell? What did they arrest you for?" Jack demanded, taking a step forward while carefully reaching for his gun.

"I killed." the answer was calm, his voice steady and empty of regret.

"Who?"

"My mistress."

"Why?"

"She...she..." he took a deep breath, calming himself before continuing.  
"She did this." he slowly held his arms up for Jack to see. Long thin scars were running down the length of Ianto's forearms, the bright white barely in contrast to his pale skin.

Jack took a sharp breath, easily recognising the marks on Ianto's arms. He could trace the lines all over his body, knew exactly where they would run, knew that they would match the ones on his own body.

"Was she one of them? Was she converted?"

"Not completely. But she was _thinking_ like them, she was _acting_ like them." Ianto looked up, his eyes pleading. "They said she was more than 50% human so I was convicted for murder, but I don't think she was human at all. In the beginning: yes. She was kind then, but not after _they_ came. Not after they changed her. She was cruel then, she wanted us to be one, to be united as..." a sob stopped him from finishing his sentence.

Jack stepped towards him, his gun abandoned on the table. He wrapped a gentle hand around Ianto's elbow, leading him back to sit on the bed.  
The second Jack's arms came around him, Ianto curled into him, his still bare legs tucked under him, Jack's too big shirt making him look like the boy he probably still was.

~.~

Jack woke with a warm body curled into his side, soft hair tickling his nose with every breath. Carefully not to disturb the other man, Jack untangled himself, sitting up.

Ianto was curled into himself, one arm outstretched on the now empty mattress where it had been clutching the material of Jack's shirt moments ago. He was all but drowning in the shirt he had borrowed from Jack the night before. His eyes were still red and puffy from crying himself to sleep.

Jack ran a gentle finger down the side of his face. He watched Ianto's hands tighten his hold on the sheets he was lying on.

"I won't let those bastards lock you up again. I promise." he whispered before finally leaving the bed and Ianto still sleeping deeply in it behind.

Those hunted by the Alliance stuck together, helped each other out. It was the only way to survive in this time.  
Those that had encountered the Cybermen and walked away alive shared a bond deeper than nightmares and scars.

Jack sighed it would mean wasting fuel and at least a full week but he would make sure that Ianto got safely to Kalidasa, an Alliance free planet where he would be able to travel from to wherever he needed or wanted to go.


End file.
